CAMP EXPLOITATION

kirbylee70-599-526179

In the late 80s it seemed that film makers were dead set on turning comic book properties into camp parodies of their origins. In 1980 we had FLASH GORDON, in 1979 two Captain America films best forgotten, CONDORMAN in 1981 and THE SPIRIT in 1987. So it should come as no surprise that one of them would be based on the bondage comics of John Willie that were popular when it was made in 1984. That film was GWENDOLINE aka THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK-YAK.

With only two minor roles to her credit at the time actress Tawny Kitaen stars as the title character, the daughter of a lepidopterist (those who study butterflies) searching for her father in China, the last place he was seen. Her father was seeking a rare and elusive butterfly with the hopes of being the first to bring one back home to be named after himself. With her faithful sidekick Beth (Zabou Breitman) by her side she's immediately kidnapped and taken to the bar/brothel of a local gangster about to be traded into the white slavery market.

Before that can happen adventurer and scalawag Willard (Brent Huff) breaks in to collect a debt he is owed by the brothel owner. Leaving behind the bodies of the man and his crew, he hits the bar and betting tables with Gwendoline hot on his trail, hoping she can recruit him to aid in her search. He refuses at first but Beth hides the cargo he is to transport for another criminal and he has no choice but to help.

In addition to giving him back his cargo, Gwendoline agrees to pay him $2,000 for his assistance. What she doesn't tell him is that to raise the funds she sells off his cargo. With the criminals after him he has no choice but to help them as they head off to find her father.

Their journey takes them up river and then into a jungle where they encounter the Kiops tribe, a group of cannibals who capture them with the intent of dinner. Escaping from them they head out to a desert area that even the Kiops are afraid to travel. With little to go on a frustrated Willard is about to leave the two women when they fall into a hidden land beneath the sand, a land of only women, all scantily clad.

This is the land of the Yik-Yak, a location full of legends and fables concerning a volcano that could erupt at any time. It is also a land where the main focus of their people is mining huge diamonds. The queen tells Huff that he will be the prize for a combat involving members of the tribe, the winner getting to mate with him. What she doesn't tell him is that afterward he will be killed.

Can Gwendoline, now in love with Willard, save him with the help of Beth? Will they find her father? Will the find the butterfly? Will they be able to escape and take along a fortune in diamonds? Will the queen win and rule forever? Will the volcano explode?

The film plays out like those old serials that used to play in front of feature films long ago. Well sort of. Those films didn't use plenty of exposed flesh like this one does nor the sexual situations it employs or the low level bondage seen here. But it does have that feeling and does so in a homage style that makes it fun.

None of this film is to be taken seriously and it was intended as such. This was a romp that would provide that all around fun hero genre with a touch of sex and nudity and draw in most likely a young male audience looking for just that type of film. What could satisfy the needs of then nerds that heroes and breasts? The film provides both. Is it the best film made? Far from it. But at least it knew what its target audience was and played to those strength.

That being said those hired for their roles were far from the cream of the crop. And yet they do a decent enough job here. Kitaen went on to marry and star in music videos with then husband David Coverdale and his band Whitesnake before dealing with addiction issue. Huff went on to a solid career and can be seen in the current series THE ROOKIE. The rest in supporting roles also went on to bigger and better things.

Director Just Jaeckin, who had made a name for himself in soft core porn films like THE STORY OF O, EMMANEULLE and LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER never made another feature film after this. His films did show a talent there but for some reason he decided to leave film and pursue art instead.

Is the movie great? No, not really. But it can be fun if you enjoy those campy films of the past or movies that offer more skin than sex focusing only on women being naked for the most part. Fans who have a nostalgic sense of the film having seen it repeatedly while growing up late at night on pay stations will be certain to pick it up as well.

Severin is to be applauded once more for bringing life to a movie lost among the VHS shelves of mom and pop stores in the past. They're offering it in blu-ray format with a newly scanned uncut 4k version from the original film negative making it the cleanest version ever offered. In addition to that they've included some nice extras as well including the alternate US version of the film with the lengthier title, an audio commentary track with Jaeckin, an audio commentary track with Kitaen and Huff, "The Butterfly Effect" a 2019 interview with Jaeckin, "Bondage Paradise" interviews with costume and concept designers & comic book artists Francois Schuiten and Claude Renard, "The Perils of Production" an interview with producer Jean-Clause Fleury, "Gwendoline's Travels" an interview with production designer Francois Deleu, blu-ray promos with Kitaen and Huff, "The Last Temptation of Just" a 2006 interview with Jaeckin, "Dr. Kinsey Interview with John Willie the Creator of Sweet Gwendoline", trailers. a reversible cover and six lobby cards while supplies last. Whew! That's an extensive bunch of extras for a movie like this. It shows the work that Severin is willing to do for a movie that wasn't among the top of the box office charts but does have its own cult following. Kudos to them once again for stepping up to the plate with a title like this.

score 7/10

kirbylee70-599-526179 26 March 2020

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5580096/